Industry

HEADLINES

European missile manufacturing consortium MBDA announced in its annual results that the firm’s order book had hit a record EUR17.4 billion (USD19.78 billion) following an absolute-terms increase of EUR600 million.
“This backlog is important as it provides us with important coverage and

European missile house MBDA completed the first firing trial of the Brimstone 3 precision strike missile at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden last month, the company has disclosed.
Conducted in temperatures below -30°, the missile was surface launched against a pick-up truck target. MBDA said

The Philippines Department of National Defence (DND) has outlined a commitment to introduce additional reforms to improve the country’s military procurement processes.
The DND said the emphasis of new measures will be to enhance transparency and to enable acquisitions to be more responsive to

Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) is positioning its Bronco 3 to address the potential emerging requirements of current Bv206 users, according to Dominic Phoon, vice-president and product director of the Programme Management Office.
The Bronco 3 was specifically designed for

The Swiss government has crystallised its plans for the future of defence firm RUAG, following a meeting of the country’s Federal Council.
Under plans submitted by RUAG and approved by the government, RUAG Holdings will be split into two organisations: MRO Switzerland and RUAG International.

BAE Systems Australia has teamed with a domestic industry organisation to develop a system to enhance supply chain integration, the company announced on 18 March.
The approach will be tested on the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF’s) new Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) has announced a series of initiatives to support the introduction of next-generation military technologies to boost the capabilities of the both country’s armed forces and its national defence industry.
The MND said on 18 March that the

Elbit Systems has reported a 9% increase in revenues year on year in 2018, attributed to an uptick in the sales of land systems in Europe through both its existing business and that of the newly-acquired IMI, as well as a boost to its commercial avionics sales via its new US subsidiary.
As of 31

The UK government has drawn together representatives from the across the nation’s defence aerospace industry to engage on the Tempest future fighter and other aspects of the wider Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
The event, held at Farnborough on 19 March, was the first time that companies

Airbus Helicopters and Hensoldt have entered into a long-term framework agreement covering the supply of a missile protection capability for a range of Airbus Helicopters’ military platforms.
Signed at the end of 2018, the agreement covers an initial 10-year period during which orders can be

Curtiss-Wright announced on 18 March that it had completed the acquisition of Tactical Communications Group (TCG) in a USD50 million cash deal.
TCG will be incorporated into Curtiss-Wright’s defence business line, which will benefit from adding TCG’s tactical datalink software

Six Russian defence companies have been hit by a new round of sanctions, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on 15 March.
The US said the defence companies being sanctioned were operating in Crimea had benefited from the “misappropriated Ukrainian state

Airbus Helicopters has confirmed it is to bid its H145M battlefield support helicopter for Australia’s special forces requirement.
The announcement, made by the company on 18 March, comes eight months after Jane’s first reported that Airbus was discussing with a potential customer a

DroneShield and Saudi Arabia’s national telecommunications company Saudi Telecoms Company (STC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) committing to the exploration of the potential for collaboration on counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) opportunities for government customers in

Lockheed Martin has announced that Roderick McLean has been appointed as vice-president and general manager for its Air Mobility & Maritime Missions business line, while Bridget Lauderdale will take on the same position within its Integrated Fighter Group division.
As of 15 April, McLean

German shipbuilder Lürssen has formed a joint venture (JV) with a company in Brunei to provide maintenance support for the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN).
Brunei’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a recent statement that the JV – named Muara Maritime Services (MMS) – has been

Key Points
Malaysia has revised its four warship contract with a Chinese shipbuilder
The revision is latest in a series of Sino-Malaysia emendations undertaken by the new government since taking power in mid-2018
A contract to build Littoral Mission Ships (LMSs) for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN)

The US Army is once again stepping up its request to buy additional ammunition next year with plans to spend USD2.8 billion in fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020).
In the Trump administration’s annual budget request to Congress the army outlined plans to spend nearly USD2.7 billion in its base budget

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has said it will expand its import substitution programme during 2019 as part of efforts to reduce dependency on foreign technologies and boost defence exports.
DAPA said on 18 March that it will collaborate with local industry

The United States and India have agreed to expand their joint initiative to develop defence trade and technology ties.
In the latest round of talks under the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) officials said additional areas for collaboration will include small unmanned aerial